Meet our leaders.

Anthony Karakatsanis, P.Eng., B.E.Sc., ICD.D

President and Chief Executive Officer – Board of Directors

Catherine Karakatsanis, P.Eng., M.E.Sc., FEC, FCAE, ICD.D

Chief Operating Officer – Board of Directors

Catherine joined Morrison Hershfield as a structural engineer and her career progressed as she gained extensive engineering and management experience. As COO, she is responsible for domestic and international operations providing business leadership and engaging staff to leverage their collective strengths. Catherine obtained a Bachelor’s and Masters Degree of Engineering Science from Western University.

She has consistently been recognized for her professional, business and community contributions including receiving Canada’s highest engineering distinction for exceptional individual achievement – the prestigious ‘Gold Medal Award’ from Engineers Canada;  having been inducted as a Fellow into the Canadian Academy of Engineering;  awarded the ‘Gold Medal’, the ‘Engineering Medal of Management’ and the rank of ‘Companion’ by Professional Engineers Ontario;  was inducted into ‘Canada’s Top 100 Most Powerful Women Hall of Fame’;  and was awarded Ontario Women’s Directorate – ‘Leading Women Building Communities Award’, among others. Catherine currently sits on the boards of Morrison Hershfield; the International Federation of Consulting Engineers (FIDIC); and the Canadian Academy of Engineering (CAE).

Kevin Chouinard, P.Eng.

Senior Vice President, Building Specialty Services – Board of Directors

Jon McCarthy, P.E., MBA

Senior Vice President, Integrated Engineering Design

Jim Weir, P.Eng.

Senior Vice President, Horizontal Infrastructure – Board of Directors

Jim joined the firm in 1997 as a Transportation Engineer working on Morrison Hershfield’s first large project for the Ministry of Transportation of Ontario (MTO). The great work completed on this project led to Morrison Hershfield becoming a trusted, and “go to” provider of Engineering Services to MTO that continues to this day. As the leader of our Transportation business, Jim oversees our teams working on roads, highways and bridges. Jim is a graduate of the University of Ottawa. He has over 25 years experience leading design teams on highly complex transportation projects.

David Pavey, CPA, CA, HBA

Chief Financial Officer & Senior Vice President

David joined Morrison Hershfield in 2006 as Vice President, Finance & Corporate Services. As Chief Financial Officer, David leads a team of experts who provide financial, IT&S and facilities management support services to our growing multi-national consulting engineering firm. David’s financial and general management experience spans professional services, retail, distribution, technology and education industry sectors. David is a graduate of The University of Western Ontario – Richard Ivey School of Business.

Rob Selby, Ph.D., P.Eng., P.E.

Chief Technical & Risk Management Officer

Pelly Shafto

Vice President, Human Resources, Organizational Development and Safety

Scott R. Steiding

Vice President, Corporate Marketing and Sales

As the leader of Corporate Marketing and Sales, Scott manages market and client feedback mechanisms in Canada and the U.S. to ensure the smart growth goals of the organization are met. He leads our efforts to secure the best projects, from the best clients, so we can hire and retain the best people in Canada and the U.S. Scott joined Morrison Hershfield as a Project Manager in our Calgary office in 2001. Over the years, he has held a number of operational positions managing telecommunications and data center infrastructure projects. Scott successfully led business development in our U.S. business during the challenging years of the great recession. Prior to joining Morrison Hershfield, he worked as a telecommunications professional in four countries and is a graduate of Alma College.

Robert Forbes, LL.B., LL.M.

Board Chair and External Director

Robert Forbes has rejoined the Board as of January 2018. He originally served on the Board from January 2009 to January 2015, acting as Chair from 2011 to 2015. Robert E. Forbes is a partner at Miller Thomson LLP in Toronto. His practice is focused on finance, securities regulation and mergers and acquisitions matters with particular reference to mergers and acquisitions in regulated industries and private equity transactions. He acts for Canadian banks, insurance companies, pension funds and other financial institutions in relation to their financing and acquisition activities, both international and domestic. He received his B.A. (Economics) and his LL.B. from the University of Western Ontario. He received his LL.M. from London School of Economics in England and was called to the Ontario Bar in 1977. Mr. Forbes is an Adjunct Professor of Law at Osgoode Hall Law School at York University and the co-author of a number of books including Canadian Business Organizations Law.

Chamonix Larsen

Department Manager, Building Science – Board of Directors, Shareholder-at-large

Chamonix joined Morrison Hershfield in 2017. She is a Building Science Consultant with more than 15 years of industry experience. Her areas of expertise include architectural design and consulting, technical analysis and writing, project manager, owner’s representative for energy efficiency, grant authorship, LEED certification, and building enclosure commissioning. Chamonix has provided leadership to the progression of high-performance buildings throughout her career. She is the past-director for the State of Utah, Division of Facilities, High Performance Building Program. She was recognized by Utah Business Magazine as “30 Women to Watch”, “20 Under 40” by Engineering News Record and is a past AIA Utah Associate Member of the Year. Chamonix is also an adjunct professor at the University of Utah, College of Architecture and Planning, her alma mater.

Nancy Longueira, M.A.Sc., P.Eng.

Vice President, Building Science East – Board of Directors

Nancy joined Morrison Hershfield in 1995 in the Building Science group. Nancy’s project focus has been on conducting field assessments and managing condition assessment projects for capital planning, due diligence and asset management projects for large and varied real estate portfolios in both the private and public sectors. She has held multiple leadership positions at Morrison Hershfield including manager of the Building Science department in Toronto, Technical Lead for the Spray Foam Quality Assurance Program, and Technical Director for Facility Assessments where she was responsible for development of processes and templates for various condition assessment services to promote consistency across the offices. She has served as Secretary on the ULC Spray Polyurethane Foam Task Group and presented numerous technical seminars to industry groups covering various topics including mold in buildings, reserve fund studies and condition assessments. Nancy’s experience is commonly sought by Morrison Hershfield staff in our Canadian and US offices when conducting property condition assessments, particularly for large portfolios or clients with unique requirements. Nancy has recently assumed the role of leader for the Communities of Practice.

Robert Petersen, P.Eng.

External Director

Bob Petersen retired from TRC Corporation in 2013. He was hired as the Senior Vice President in 2006 where he led the turnaround team with assignments to rationalize the troubled operations of the company. He then functioned in a variety of Regional and National operations roles before eventually assuming leadership as COO reporting to the CEO and to the Board. Prior to TRC he founded and was the sole proprietor of The North Shore Group which was a management consulting business focused on sales strategies and targeted Key Client Account programs. Bob also spent 10 years at ENSR Corporation as President and CEO. Bob has Masters degrees in Chemical Engineering, Engineering Management and Executive Management.

Carole Workman, CPA – CA; ICD-D

External Director

Carole Workman is a Chartered Public Accountant with an ICD (Institute of Corporate Director) designation. She is a senior executive with extensive experience in executive management and leadership of large and complex organizations including Vice President, Finance and Administration for the University of Ottawa. She has served on a number of boards ranging from electricity to insurance to health care; she’s held board leadership positions serving as Board Chair and Chair of Audit and Governance committees.